Hall was also absent from a New York Times report on the shifting late-night landscape. But on Tuesday night's show, he was trying to take things in stride. After all, he once made huge waves back in 1992 by appearing on the cover of Entertainment Weekly and declaring he was "gonna kick Leno's ass." These days, he says, "I don't want to come off as the angry black man."

However, he did want to let NBC anchor Brian Williams and the NBC News crew know about his displeasure, so he announced the phone number to NBC News on the air and encouraged fans to give them a ring.

Yes, that really was the number for the "NBC Nightly News" and an NBC employee confirmed that they'd received several calls from Hall's fans.

Hall may not have wanted to appear angry, but he had a friend on hand who had no trouble delivering a sinister message to Williams and the crew at NBC News. Enter, Suge Knight.

The hulking music mogul, who has spent time in prison, strode out and delivered a message to Williams and "the world of journalism."

"Well, as far as I look at it, it's like this," Knight said. "You the West Coast," Knight indicated Hall. "So we're going to give him so many days, so many hours to get it right. And he gonna have to apply. Either he apply or he leave."

Hall was quick to clarify what Knight was saying: "Either change it or resign."